Decent 2.1 speaker set for roommate

S

Shadowssong

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 17, 2009
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Hey all, it's my roommates birthday this weekend and I wanted to get him a nice 2.1 set to replace his pos stock speakers that he currently has. My and my other roommate will be splitting the price, I want to keep it below $70. Any ideas? I was looking at the Logitech Z313 and Creative Inspire T3130. This would be solely for music because he doesn't game on his computer. Any ideas would be great!

Thanks!
 
Would those speakers provide much bass? He listens to rap and house music and I would think he would want some kick. Thanks for the reply
 
If you want more, you're going to have to spend more.

To answer your question, no. There will not be a lot of bass from small drivers.
 
astrallite said:
Logitech Z-10 on Amazon is 59.99
Gigaworks T20 is ~$70
Klipsch 2.0 Ultra $70+ship

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Z-10...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265248852&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...ctronics&qid=1265248852&sr=1-4&condition=used

http://store.high-techoffice.com/klprul20pemu.html

These are the best musical multimedia speakers
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thanks for post, was looking for a good set of speakers, may go for the klipsch, unless i see a good deal on eBay
 
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As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
For $50 shipped it seems like a very good deal (on Amazon). I think if you are in Cali it would come out to about $70 on newegg.

It looks good. Don't know about the sub, multimedia ones typically sound like someone blowing through a toilet paper tube. I remember paying for some pretty expensive PC speakers with bad subs even in the $250-300 price range (the first that comes to mind is the AL ATP5...)
 
As soon as either chief value or Amazon has them back in stock I'm buying a set for my shop. The sub's LCD will be IMMEDIATELY covered with duct/gaffer tape. Flashing lights, ugh.

Re: sound quality, read some of the customer and hardware-site reviews - many comment on the sub. In short, it's not world-class, but better than the $50 would suggest.
 
Jay_S said:
You might check out the Eagle Tech ET-AR504LR-BK 2.1 sat/sub system. There's a ton of favorable reviews at various hardware sites. Good pictures at overclockersonline.

At that price point ($50) I don't see how it can be beat. Trouble is finding it in stock. Newegg has it, but shipping isn't cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16836183035
http://www.amazon.com/Eagle-Tech-AR504LR-BK-Soundstage-Subwoofer/dp/B0029Z9UNW
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Thanks, I'm getting them from newegg. The shipping is rough but they seem really nice and I'm a sucker for buying nice shit for people. Preciate the help!
 
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Nice - let us know how they sound.

I don't mean to demean the chemically sensitive, but this is the strangest / funniest / scariest review on Amazon:

Chinese Toxic Wate, January 25, 2010
Here is another angle for you to consider, especially for u who are chemically sensitive or don't want to risk your friends or loved ones being exposed to toxic gas/ses:

The speaker cables give off a familiar smell that I've smelled in various cheap made in china parts, a nauseating smell that I've become more sensitive to over time it seems. It's a WD-40 like smell, what that indicates I don't know, I sure would like to know though, because just a faint smell of it makes me literally want to puke for long after I've inhaled the fumes and gives me a very slight headache, not the throbbing kind though. The smell is the faintest I've smelled on wiring, and doesn't rub off hardly, unlike other cables I've touched that were fuming this same smell.

Toxic or not, it makes me want to puke, and as I'm writing this, I still want to, and could almost swear I can smell the wiring a little now and then. I wish there were visible screws on the speakers so that the wiring could be replaced, or that the cables could just be replaced. The speaker cable is too thin to cut and replace too.

The remote also fumes, but it's even fainter then the wiring, but touching repeatedly would no doubt start to accumulate on the skin eventually. I'm seriously considering returning these since I value not having painful deadly cancer more than some cheap speakers.

Update: Hours later I tested these speakers, and they are awful. In comparison to my Philips pc desk speakers they are poor. They sound highly directional, and the bass didn't impress me, seemed crude, and for my apartment they are a big no no since I know they turn my walls into giant subwoofers. My old stick speakers, which combine the bass near to the speakers, sound so much more natural and scatter sound more evenly. It sounds really artificial to me to hear the bass separate from the speakers. On top of that, I decided to smell the wires behind the speakers again, and got a stronger headache and a stronger urge to throw up. I'm definitely going to try and return these and try and avoid cheap made-in-china toxic waste dump on america wiring this time.
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So, let us know how they smell too. :)
 
haha. i had a similar experience with some cables from a 2.5" enclosure...both the usb and esata cables had a horrible chemical smell
 
I think I may go for those Eagle speakers via Amazon... in no big hurry and have amazon prime already.
thanks!
 
Jay_S said:
Nice - let us know how they sound.

I don't mean to demean the chemically sensitive, but this is the strangest / funniest / scariest review on Amazon:


So, let us know how they smell too. :)
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lol that's a bizarre review all right. guy was probably on shrooms or something, it's happened to me before ;)
 
Jay_S said:
Nice - let us know how they sound.

I don't mean to demean the chemically sensitive, but this is the strangest / funniest / scariest review on Amazon:


So, let us know how they smell too. :)
Click to expand...

I will be sure to smell them upon arrival and during use. Although I am sure a funky smell wouldn't be too out of place in our college apartment :D
 
Got an update and a question. The speakers sound very good, he loves them. He has been using them no problem for a couple weeks. He usually has the speakers pretty loud and will control the volume via the pc control because the volume control on the unit is kind of a pain in the ass. But all the sudden when he has his pc volume at max (not speaker volume at max) there will be a lot of static and distortion. If he turns the pc volume down to about half way and turns the speakers up there is less distortion. I tried the speakers on my laptop and there was no distortion at all.
Any ideas why this would be? Should I unistall/reinstall the audio drivers? Thanks again!
 
Chances are his computer allows him to turn up the gain (voltage) high than your laptop and thus reveals the pre-amp noise present in the speakers that was not present at a lower volume level.
 
This didn't happen before though, he usually had his pc volume up at max and controlled the volume via the subwoofer/remote.
 
Hmm, not sure on the preamp noise - that shouldn't be discernable if the speaker's volume is low. Sounds more like his sound card is overloading the speaker's preamp. The solution is to do exactly what he did - turn down the PC's volume, and turn up the speaker's volume until you reach a happy middle ground.

This is similar to a guitar amp. You want distortion, you raise the input gain to overdrive the input stage.
 
Alright, thanks. Would adding an older sound card help with this? I have one that I took out of my parents dell from a couple years ago sitting at home, figured I might pick it up next time I'm back home. I forget the brand/model though, some stock crap that came with dell though.
 
Shadowssong said:
Alright, thanks. Would adding an older sound card help with this?
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Unless the old sound card is somehow acoustically superior to the new one (??)...

I wouldn't downgrade hardware just for the ability to max the PC's volume control in windows. I'm skeptical that any analog circuit operating at 100% is operating accurately - most gain stages (amps, preamps, etc.) get funky at the boundaries (0% and 100%). Around 0%, you'll hear the hiss of poorly designed circuits (low signal to noise). Around 100% you reach the electrical limits of a gain stage's power supply (insufficient current). This is why most electrical and acoustical specs are reported in relation to other moderate characteristics. Example: THD is measured at a moderate output power and at a middle frequency - usually @ 1000 Hz. Better sources state THD for a range of output power & frequencies. Frequency response graphs are +/- X dB over the middle of a device's range, getting funky above/below that range.

Anyway, I don't see this as a problem - all this stuff is adjustable on purpose. You want to be able to adjust all devices to maximize signal to noise ratio. In analog situations (home audio, car audio, pro audio, etc) you want a source's output as hot as possible, right below the limit where you overload the destination's input stage. If this means your roommate has turn down the PC and turn up the speakers to max SNR, then that's the solution.

If the PC was constantly overloading the speaker's input stage, THEN you'd have a problem.
 
Ah ok, great explanation thanks, I'll just tell him to keep the volume off max on his pc and control it via the speaker control. Thanks a ton! Love learning new stuff about compooters :)
 
Shadowssong said:
I'll just tell him to keep the volume off max on his pc and control it via the speaker control.
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He can continue to use the pc's volume control, but instead of using the 80-100% range, he should just use the 50-75% range (or whatever).
 
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